[4] However, in the midst of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus were suspended from competing in all IIHF tournaments for at least a year.

[5] This marked the first time that Russia missed the top division of the World Championship since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

[8] This marked the first time since the introduction of the playoff round in 1992 that the same two teams met in the gold medal game three tournaments in a row.

[11][12] In addition, it suffered from the lowest attendance in two decades, excluding the 2021 tournament played without audience; some attribute this to the absence of Russia.

[17]2 However, on 28 February 2022, the IIHF decided to expel ROC and Belarus from the tournament due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.